Rick Jacobo

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

Over the past few months I’ve been exploring how AI-assisted tooling and automation can change the way infrastructure platforms are built and operated.

As part of that exploration I’ve been working on a project called virtuOSo.

virtuOSo is a Linux appliance distributed as an ISO. The goal is to make homelab and local infrastructure environments easier to stand up, automate, and experiment with.

A few things I focused on while building virtuOSo:

• Browser-based VM management and console access
• Support for common Linux cloud images
• A REST API and Terraform provider for infrastructure automation
• The ability to connect AI assistants like Claude Code or Codex through an MCP server so infrastructure can be explored and automated programmatically

The idea started as a way to simplify running and automating local infrastructure, but it also became a really interesting platform for experimenting with agent-driven infrastructure and AI-assisted operations.

If you enjoy infrastructure tooling, homelabs, virtualization, or automation, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

You can learn more about the project at https://t.co/g9FXm9XDta

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

The goal isn’t to replace tools like Kubernetes or Terraform.

It’s to give you a simple control plane that sits above them
and makes common workflows repeatable across on prem and cloud.
Define once. Deploy anywhere. Tear down cleanly.

Less glue. Less context switching.

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

I kept running into the same problem:
Infrastructure lives in too many places.

Cloud. On prem. Tools everywhere.

So I built something to fix it.

virtuOSo is a lightweight control plane that lets you:

• Run workloads on prem and in AWS
• Deploy full environments from YAML
• Plug into Terraform and GitOps workflows
• Control everything via API, CLI, or AI

It’s early, but it’s already changing how I build.

If you’re working in platform or infra, I’d love your thoughts.

→ https://t.co/CtTkCZIkJX

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

One-click Kubernetes.

On-prem + AWS.

Built this to make hybrid infra feel the same whether it’s running in a lab or the cloud.

• Launch a management VM
• Scale both clusters the same way
• Access instantly via Tailscale
No separate setup. No context switching.
#kubernetes #devops #homelab

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

@ApplyWiseAi It's working out great so far. The apps in virtuOSo make multi-cloud SSH with @Tailscale super simple - just copy/paste and you're in.

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

Just shipped a new virtuOSo release.

Added hybrid cloud support — can now manage on-prem KVM VMs and AWS EC2 instances from the same dashboard.

Also added:

Kubernetes worker scaling
QCOW2 image support
Tailscale integration (no public SSH needed)

Still building this out — curious what others are doing for hybrid setups.

https://t.co/g9FXm9XDta

#homelab #kubernetes

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

@ZimaSpace This is exactly the kind of hardware I’ve been looking for.

I’ve been building a KVM-based homelab platform (virtuOSo) and this feels like a perfect fit for running hybrid on-prem + cloud workloads from a single control plane.

Definitely submitting an idea for this 👀

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

@piyush784066 I tend to gravitate towards Ubuntu server for most of my projects. Although I've been interested in trying Fedora Bootc

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

@therahul4402 I vote for Ubuntu

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

@vspinmaster Thanks for the Talos recommendation. I've been using K3S in my homelab and after looking into it a bit more I think I may give Talos a try too.

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

@MUO_official Nice article. NGINX is solid, I ended up going with Caddy for my homelab setup—automatic HTTPS and simpler configs made a huge difference. Either way, adding a reverse proxy was the turning point.

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

@howtogeek Way to put that old hardware to use. I'm running a few older Lenovo SFF myself.

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

Release notes:
https://t.co/r5VhDm5zWT

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

Hey all, I spent some time this weekend working on virtuOSo and pushed out a new release.

The biggest update is a new Apps page that makes it much easier to install popular apps. This is essentially turning virtuOSo into a lightweight internal developer platform for your home lab. It gives you a self service way to deploy infrastructure and services without having to manually provision and configure everything yourself.

Right now there are one click app cards for:

• Docker
• Gitea
• Kubernetes with optional add-ons
• LGTM stack including Loki, Grafana, Tempo, and Prometheus
• MySQL
• PostgreSQL
• Rancher
• SigNoz
• Tailscal
• Uptime Kuma
• WireGuard

The one I am most excited about is the Kubernetes app.

You can spin up multiple clusters and grab each cluster’s kubeconfig right from the UI. The merged kubeconfig imports nicely into Lens without any issues allow me to manage all my clusters from one file as expected. You can also install add-ons like ArgoCD, Headlamp, and K9S during setup or anytime after.

If you want more flexibility, you can create your own apps using Stacks.

Stacks let you define multi VM environments as a single YAML template and manage them as a unit. Instead of launching VMs one at a time, you describe the full environment and deploy or tear it down together.

Would love feedback, especially on what other one click apps you would like to see next.

Project
https://t.co/g9FXm9XDta

Releases Notes
https://t.co/s1UiwmlKyl

#homelab #devops #kubernetes #virtualization #automation

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

@digitalocean lxc launch ubuntu/21.04 node01

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

How To Create A VPS In AWS The Easy Way With Amazon Lightsail https://t.co/gIl8hR1nsM via @YouTube
Amazon Lightsail makes it easy for anyone, at any skill level, to create a VPS in AWS with little more than a few clicks.

#amazon #aws #howtoguide #tutorials #vps

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

How to Host A Dynamic Web Page With PowerShell On AWS Lambda and API Gateway https://t.co/I2uvUBiZqk

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

How To Create An AWS Lambda PowerShell Application the Easy Way — Using Docker https://t.co/U8eFQ0zusB

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

What they don’t tell you about setting up a WireGuard VPN https://t.co/EM0IXWx6kd

[Rick Jacobo @RickJacobo]

New for AWS Lambda – Container Image Support | Amazon Web Services https://t.co/SXB3PljG5R